On July 26, an alert was sounded as heavy rain in the mountains near the Amarnath shrine triggered flash floods. Over 4,000 pilgrims camping in tents were evacuated from the area and safely brought back to Panchtarni, the last camp en route to the holy cave located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas at 3,880 metres above sea level in south Kashmir. The scenes were reminiscent of the July 8 flash flood that was set off by heavy downpour near the shrine, resulting in the death of 15 pilgrims. Fifty-five persons were also injured in the incident, with water gushing down mountain passes and washing away a few tents and langar stalls. Rescue operations went on for six days.
Yet, the next morning, the 26th batch of devotees left Jammu for the twin base camps of the pilgrimage. A senior Jammu and Kashmir government official says pilgrims are not deterred by the threat of flash floods. “There has been no dip in footfall after the July 8 incident. Though the yatra was suspended for a couple of days to carry out rescue work, we were inundated with calls to immediately resume the pilgrimage.”
